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| “ | I f*** you right where you breathe. | „ |
| ~ Johnny Boy |
| “ | You too good for this ten dollars? It's a good ten dollars. You know Michael, you make me laugh. You see, I borrow money all over this neighborhood, left and right from everybody, I never pay them back. So, I can't borrow no money from nobody no more, right? So who would that leave me to borrow money from but you? I borrow money from you, because you're the only jerk-off around here who I can borrow money from without payin' back, right? You know, 'cause that's what you are. That's what I think of you, a jerk-off. | „ |
| ~ Johnny refusing to pay Michael Longo his debt. |
Johnny Civello is the villainous deuteragonist of the 1973 neo-noir crime film Mean Streets directed by Martin Scorsese. He is a mentally unstable life-long friend of the villainous protagonist Charlie Cappa and the cousin of Charlie's lover Teresa Ronchelli. He gets Charlie and everyone around him in trouble due to his mental instablilty, sociopathic tendencies as well as his many debts to various criminals.
He was portrayed by Robert De Niro, who also played Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy, David "Noodles" Aaronson in Once Upon a Time in America, Louis Cyphre in Angel Heart, Al Capone in The Untouchables, Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas, Max Cady in Cape Fear, Frankenstein's Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Neil McCauley in Heat, Dwight Hansen in This Boy's Life, Ace Rothstein in Casino, Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, Gil Renard in The Fan, Fearless Leader in The Adventures of Rocky and Buillwinkle, Don Lino in Shark Tale, David Callaway in Hide and Seek, Senator John McLaughlin in Machete, Frank Sheeran in The Irishman and William Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Johnny Civello met Charlie Cappa in Little Italy, New York when they were children and played together as well as commiting petty crimes together up until adulthood hence, becoming life-long friends. Due to Charlie's family ties to the criminal underworld in Little Italy, he became a criminal underling while Johnny became a factory worker and a reckless, freelance criminal as he would also assist Charlie in criminal activities. Johnny throughout the years would go on to gamble and owe money to many criminal underlings and loan sharks as well, one of them, Michael Longo is an associate and a friend of Charlie.
Mean Streets[]
Johnny now in his late twenties becomes increasingly reckless and unhinged which prompted Charlie's mob boss uncle Giovanni to advice him to distance himself from Johnny. Johnny also makes excuses to Michael Longo when confronted about his debt and sometimes would only pay him mere small change due to his excessive gambling and spending habits. Charlie who is is having an affair with Teresa Ronchelli is hampered by his feeling of responsibility towards her cousin Johnny and fails to receive redemption in the Church, he seeks it through sacrificing himself on Johnny's behalf.
At a bar, Michael comes looking for Johnny to pay up. To his surprise, Johnny insults him. Michael lunges at Johnny, who pulls a gun. After a tense standoff, Michael walks away and Charlie convinces Johnny that they should leave town for a brief period. Teresa insists on coming with them. Charlie borrows a car and they drive off, leaving the neighborhood without incident.
A car that has been following them suddenly pulls up, with Michael at the wheel and his henchman, Jimmy Shorts, in the backseat. Jimmy fires several shots at Charlie's car, hitting Johnny in the neck as he attempts to jump off the car window and hop into Michael's car and Charlie in the hand, causing Charlie to crash the car into a fire hydrant. Johnny is seen in an alleyway staggering toward a white light which is revealed to be a police car. Charlie gets out of the crashed vehicle and kneels in the spurting water from the hydrant, dazed and bleeding. Paramedics take Teresa and Charlie away.
Johnny either dies from his wounds or is presumably arrested and is either bailed out by Charlie or imprisoned for his crimes.
Personality[]
It is heavily implied by both Charlie and Teresa that Johnny has some form of mental instability and his actions back it up. He is downright reckless, uncaring, ignorant and at times fearless. He only avoids contact with the loan sharks he owed to avoid "wasting his energy" however is quick to intimidate them when being confronted. He is also playfully ignorant as he borrows money, cause many problems for his cousin Teresa and his friend Charlie with absolutely no remourse and with a smile on his face.
Despite this, the only person he seems to truly care about is Charlie who has helped him throughout the years such as enlisting him in his gang and stalling his due date for his debt payments. Regardless, he still gets Charlie in trouble which leads to the ending of the film where they get shot at by Michael and his henchman.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Johnny Civello is one of Robert De Niro's first roles as well his first collaboration with director Martin Scorsese.
- There is a popular theory that Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver is actually Johnny Boy with a different identity. Throughout the years, Martin Scorsese has never acknowledged it.
External links[]
- Johnny Civello on the Martin Scorsese Wiki.